John Halamka, MD, MS, is Chief Information Officer of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center System, Chairman of the New England Healthcare Exchange Network (NEHEN), Co-Chair of the HIT Standards Committee, the endowed International Healthcare Professor at Harvard Medical School, and a practicing Emergency Physician. John has the role of Facilities Manager at the Sanctuary, and of course runs our tech! He set up the very cool live webcams accessible 24/7 on our website. You will often find him spending time with our personable pigs.

Kathy Halamka, BA, MFA, brings a fine arts training to her roles as Events Program Manager, Social Media Manager, and Public Relations Manager. Serving also as President of both the Boggestow Garden Club of Sherborn and the Norfolk County Beekeepers Association rounds out her interest in working with the community. You will often find her spending time with her poultry buddies.

Lara Heilbrun, BA, coded the website you're looking at right now! She also serves as Animal Care Manager and Volunteer Program Manager. Lara has been dreaming of farm life since she started playing Harvest Moon (a farming video game) at age 7, and even asked for cow for the following Christmas. She hopes to use her sociology degree to help create programs for Unity Farm Sanctuary as it continues to grow. You'll often see her spending time with our sweet ponies and spirited horses, and her dog (and partner in crime) Pearl is always right beside her.

Our Philosophy

Unity Farm Sanctuary was founded:

♥ on the principles of kindness
♥ to do the least amount of harm possible
♥ to rescue farm animals
♥ to promote plant-based food philosophy

The founders do not consume or use animal products (meat, leather, and similar). However, the dogs and cats are given an omnivorous diet. We do not use the word vegan since the we engage in activities that could be considered outside the strict use of the term, such as beekeeping, collecting the eggs laid by our rescue hens, and using the fiber shorn from our alpaca each spring. Additionally, we are aware that for any vegetable commercially grown (or even on our small scale) some small animals, birds and insects are unavoidably harmed. Nonetheless, we make every effort to not hurt living things if it can be avoided. In the spirit of peace and nonviolence toward all living things, we welcome everyone to participate in the works of the Sanctuary, including those who are not yet on a plant-based path, with the hope that our multi-species family here may provide inspiration.